Hometown heroes

STOCKTON - As kids, Lavelle Hawkins and his friends would stand outside the Sierra Vista Community Center gymasium as the sun rose, waiting for it to open.

Bob Highfill

STOCKTON - As kids, Lavelle Hawkins and his friends would stand outside the Sierra Vista Community Center gymasium as the sun rose, waiting for it to open.

The center served as a home away from home; a safe place to have fun, play games and be a kid.

On Wednesday, the Tennessee Titans receiver took part in a grand-opening ceremony for a learning center adjacent to the gym where he spent countless hours of his youth. The center will bear his name and be used by residents of the Sierra Vista community, a housing project in south Stockton for low-income and hard-to-house families.

Hawkins donated about $5,000 toward the purchase of computers, a flat screen television and a gaming system. Stockton-based Utility Telephone Co. installed the equipment and set up the broadband Internet connection. Kids can use the computers to study and do their homework, and adults can use them to search the job market and compile résumés, for instance.

Hawkins, 26, believes he has been blessed with the gifts to be an NFL player and said he simply is doing what he can to share with others.

"This is where I grew up," said Hawkins, an Edison graduate who has been in the league for five seasons out of the University of California, Berkeley. "I'm a firm believer that if I show love on a consistent basis, you can see significant change."

In December, Hawkins donated $20,000 worth of gift cards to Sierra Vista residents to spend during the Christmas holiday, and for the past several years, he and other volunteers have held summer football clinics at Edison free to area kids.

Tim Brown, who grew up in the Sierra Vista community before becoming a football standout at Franklin High and Temple University in Philadelphia, has been Hawkins' inspiration to perform good deeds for the community. Brown, who plays for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League, attended the opening of the learning center. He, too, has donated money and time to the residents of Sierra Vista, especially the kids. Brown said he and Hawkins speak almost every day about ways they can give back to the community.

"From here, I think it can be non-stop to help these kids and parents, mostly single parents," said Brown, a return specialist and running back, who last month signed a three-year contract extension with the Lions. "We came here last month to work everything out and Lavelle said whatever they need let me know and we'll get it in here."

Jason Mills, chief executive officer of Utility Telephone, said he was glad his company could help.

"When you see what Lavelle has done with the football camps and when you spend five minutes with him, you understand what a phenomenal human being he is," Mills said. "Our contribution isn't near what Lavelle has provided."

Rudy Willey, chairman of the San Joaquin Housing Authority, said Hawkins, Brown and others who were raised in the Sierra Vista community or similar areas - like Edison graduate and former Oregon State receiver Ruben Jackson, Edison graduate and former New Orleans Saints running back Lynell Hamilton and Lincoln graduate and former San Diego Chargers running back Tyronne Gross, who also have donated time and money to their communities - can have a profound effect on young people growing up under similar circumstances.

"It means a lot," Willey said. "Just imagine if you're a child living here and you see Lavelle and his cousin (Tim Brown) at their football camps. That could change the trajectory of their lives forever."

Hawkins said he is spending a couple days with his family before he returns to Nashville, where the Titans are headquartered. Last season, Hawkins played in seven games and caught five passes for 62 yards. He has 71 career receptions for 771 yards and one touchdown. Hawkins signed a contract extension through 2015 prior to the 2012 season.

Brown has led the West Division of the CFL in all-purpose yards in each of his first two seasons in the league. He had 2,382 yards in kick returns last season for British Columbia, the ninth-most in league history.